More on piracy off the Somali coast
International News Article | Reuters.com:
"At the center of the wave of recent attacks is a mysterious, so-called mother ship that has been spotted three times since late July drifting off the northeast coast of Somalia."
More on the piracy problem in Somali waters in this article, including a call by the UN Security Council for the Somalis to get their act together - a waste of breath - and an appeal for other nations to help.
Just as the US and UK jointly patrolled the West African coast in the 19th century to put down the slave trade, it will probably fall to us to patrol the East African coast to suppress piracy. If we take the lead, maybe some other regional powers could be induced to help - India, Australia, South Africa, perhaps. Most countries in the area don't really have a blue ocean navy capability, but a carrier task force could supply air coverage and refueling and provisions to allow some countries to commit smaller ships to do the actual boarding of suspected pirate vessels.
And, somebody ought to figure out how to free the 100 or so crewmen of ships from various countries which have been hijacked and taken to Somalia.
posted by J. Keen Holland @ 12:03 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Keen,
I gather that this "mother ship" is different from the one which supports "Calypso Louie", since it appears to be an ocean going vessel, as opposed to a space ship.
I would think our satellite surveilance capability could track this "mother" and its dangerous offspring with little difficulty. Our "blue water navy", or at least some of the "Hornets" which nest with it, could then send this "mother" to Davy Jones Locker.
I fail to understand why this kind of crap is allowed to continue indefinitely. No warnings or announcements necessary - just "disappear" them.
Ed,
I sympathize with your position, but there are some generally-respected international rules about such things and there is no point antagonizing other powers when what needs doing can be done with their consent or even assistance. It shouldn't be hard to get a UN Security Council resolution to authorize a multi-national effort to suppress piracy, especially if it was limited to two years and the Indian Ocean basin - I can't see any of the permanent members using a veto over such a limited project.The actual boarding of suspected ships should be done by the regional powers, partly because of the need for language skills which are in short supply in western navies. Even much legitimate shipping is done with crews speaking various languages of coastal regions of Asia and the East Indies.
I hear you. However, I get the impression this is not high on Somalia's priority list.
As to the UN, how many "toothless" resolutions would it take?
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